John Mellencamp Album

Save some time to dream
Save some time for yourself
Don't let your time slip away
Or be stolen by somebody else

Save some time for those you love
For they'll remember what you gave
Save some time for the songs you sing
And the music that you make

Could it be that this is all there is?
Could it be there's nothing more at all?
Save some time to dream
'Cause your dream might save us all

Save some time for sorrow
'Cause it's surely gonna come your way
And prepare yourself for failure
It'll give you strength some day

Try to keep your mind open
And accept your mistakes
Save some time for living
And always question your faith

Could it be that this is all there is?
Could it be there's nothing more at all?
Save some time to dream
'Cause your dream might save us all

So cast your eyes up to heaven
And what does that mean to you?
Try not to be too judgmental
So others will not judge you

Save some time to think
Oh, before you speak your mind
Many of your friends, they will not understand
And to them, you must be kind

Could it be that this is all there is?
Could it be there's nothing more at all?
Save some time to dream
'Cause your dream might save us all
Save some time to dream, save some time to dream

Well, the West End now, the West End then
Went by the other day just to see my friend
His house was dark, his socks were thin
I told him, "Let's get out of West End"

For my whole life I've been down in the West End
It sure has changed here since I was a kid
It's worse now, look what progress did
Someone lined the packers out, I know who that is

Well, my old man slaved down here in the West End
He thought the future was bright, way back then
But it beat him down till he had nothing to give
It broke his back, took away his will to live

Now me, I don't think much of the West End
I don't wanna end up like the old man did
'Cause I got dreams and they are bigger than this
As far as I'm concerned you can keep the West End

Well, I guess down here in the West End
Broken promises, now and then
It's not even fair to think they would
'Cause the West End now ain't no damn good

Out there somewhere you know there's gotta be a place
Where man can live with a smile on his face
And everyday something new begins
But it ain't down here at the West End

Someday down here in the West End
No one will remember how the whole place began

This town I'm leaving, I ain't kidding
Walking out the door, forever more
See the devil, he's right behind me
Whistling in my ear, it's time to go

You know the devil, he thinks he got me
He ain't got me, no

Gonna get my baby, she in Chicago
That double certain stranger every afternoon
She said I don't care, nothing about her
But I got to tell her, I still do

You know the devil, he thinks he's got her
But he ain't got her, no

I know Jesus, and I know the devil
They're both inside of me all the time
This ain't no picnic that I'm living
Just a resting place before it's time to go

You see the devil, he thinks he got me
He ain't got me, no
You see the devil, well, he thinks he got me
He ain't got me, no, no, no, no

This time I'm leaving, I ain't kidding

It's not a graceful fall from dreams to the truth
There's not a lot of hope here if you got nothing to lose
When it feels no good, when you're flat on the ground
Yeah, the future's not bright when you're falling down

'Cause I'm sick of life, yeah, it's easy to do
When everything is so hard has been handed to you
Yeah, I'm sick of life 'cause it's lost, it's found
I will see you in the next world if there is really one

Well, I'm not falling off the ladder, I'm just putting in my days
My pack is all empty and my aces won't play
Yeah, I'm moving down the street and I'm going nowhere
It's not a graceful fall when you don't care

'Cause I'm sick of life and it's easy to do
When everything is so hard has been handed to you
Yeah, I'm sick of life and it's lost, it's found
I'll see you in the next world if there is really one

Yeah, I'm sick of life 'cause I'm falling down
I'll see you in the next world if you're still around

Give me twenty five dollars
And drive me 'round downtown
Solved all my problems
Don't let me lose what I've found

Give me good lovin'
And seal it with a kiss
Then drop me off where the music's loud
But it won't get no better than this

Take me to a party
Where I'm the only man
With fifty women waitin' on me
Who say they understand

Feed me milk and honey
Give me a story that I'll never miss
Let me get one good night's sleep
But it won't get no better than this

Give me clear vision
And don't let me miss anything
I'll take the bird that whistles
And the world on a string

Fill my fist full of money
In these troubled times
And let me share the water
With all, all of mankind

Give me back my youth
And don't let me waste it this time
Stand me up at the golden gates
At the front of the line

Let me lie in the sunshine
Covered in the morning mist
Then show me something I ain't never seen
But it won't get no better than this

It's not my nature to be nostalgic at all
I sat by the phone last night waiting for you to call
It's been decades since I spoke to you
I just wanted to say I've been thinking about you

Did you get my message I left the other afternoon?
Your young girl's voice said, "I'll call you back real soon"
I bet that's your daughter, she sounded like you used to
I just wanted to say I've been thinking about you

So long ago
Those summer afternoons
I bet they tore that playground down
Where I first met you

Don't mean no trouble, don't want to bother you none
Ain't lookin' for nothin' just wonderin' 'bout you some
If you ain't got time to return this call
I understand that you're busy and all

But thanks for the memories
When the world didn't seem so small
I just wanted to say I've been thinking about you
About you, thinking about you

Well, I heard the bells of freedom
As I was comin' down the road, comin' down the road
And I follow that echo wherever it goes
I was comin' down the road

But there always seemed to be trouble in my past
I found my hands tied behind my back
As I was comin' down the road, comin' down the road

Well, I heard the truth, call my name
As I was comin' down the road, comin' down the road
And I followed that voice to the valley below
As I was comin' down the road

And it took me down a path where I was lost all the time
I found some truth but it could never be mine
And I was comin' down the road, comin' down the road

And I saw myself for a second as I really am
As I was comin' down the road
And I had to look away in disbelief I suppose
As I was comin' down the road

I caught a glimpse of myself as others see me
And I wasn't the fellow that I thought I'd be
As I was comin' down the road, comin' down the road

I saw you out my window you was wondering along
As I was comin' down the road
And I raised my hand as if to say hello
As I was comin' down the road

But you didn't wave back, you just walked on by
Alone by yourself till the day you die
And I guess the truth and freedom before is all a lie
Somewhere down the road, somewhere down the road

Well, my wife, she took off to Memphis
With some fellow from our little town
My mother's at home up in Baltimore
And my daddy's down in the ground

It gets awfully cold here in the winter
And humid in the summertime
I got laid off on account, there's no work for me
Now I'm in the unemployment line

No one cares about me, no one cares about me
No one cares about me at all
If I had to guess that 'cause I was spotted best
No one cares about me at all

Well, my kids, they've all scattered
When looking for a better life
Lost one of my boys to the drug, man
It's the only time I cried in my life

And I knew this old guy once who was kind of my friend
But smoked himself to death
And they buried him out at Riverview
Now I'm all that I got left

No one cares about me, no one cares about me
No one cares about me at all
If I had to guess that 'cause I was spotted best
No one cares about me at all

Someday I'll go, look up my brother
He lives a few miles from here
Haven't talked to him in quite some time
I guess it's been 6 or 7 years

Well, he works out there at the canary
And I think he makes a pretty good pay
His wife, she never thought too much of me
So I just stayed away

No one cares about me, no one cares about me
No one cares about me at all
If I had to guess that 'cause I was spotted best
No one cares about me at all

Well, it's hard to say what kind of fellow I am
But most the times nothing goes my way
I must've done something pretty wrong
But I still think it'll work out okay

There surely must be some angels 'round the bend
And they're trying to get to me
I'll catch up with them pretty soon
But for now no one cares about me

No one cares about me, no one cares about me
No one cares about me at all
If I had to guess that 'cause I was spotted best
No one cares about me at all

Let's suppose you lived over here
Let's suppose I lived right over there
Let's suppose we shared a kiss
I'm not like this

Let's suppose we went too far
In the backseat of your car
Let's suppose we fell in love
Like two turtle doves

And let's suppose we got engaged
Underneath that old milky way
And let's suppose we're complete
Wouldn't that be sweet?

And let's suppose we found happiness
Build ourselves a nest
Let's suppose we have five kids
Like our grandparents did

Let's suppose our dreams came true
There's lot we're supposed to do
And let's suppose we spend
The rest of our lives giving

But let's suppose sometimes we'd fight
When things weren't going right
Let's suppose you get tired of me
And our family

And let's suppose that we went broke
And we both just gave up hope
And let's suppose you left in a huff
'Cause you didn't love me enough

And let's suppose you found another man
And hit me in the head with a frying pan
And let's suppose I wound up dead
Underneath the bed

What will happen to the kids
After all that we did?
Let's suppose we both better just
Think it over

So I suppose it's just hello
And then it's time for us to go
Got a little ahead of ourselves
Like everybody else

Maybe some other time
I suppose that would be just fine
So until we meet again
I suppose we're just friends

But remember what they say
'Cause it happens everyday
I believe in love at first sight
So there, I said a goodnight

Don't forget about me
When you're holding someone else's hand
Remember we had dreams and plans
Don't forget about me

Don't forget about me
Please don't make me a 'used to be'
Someone lost in your history
Don't forget about me

I know the thrill of love is waning
You can't see the pictures I'm painting
Of me and you together
From life to death to heaven

Don't forget about me
When you break your promises and lose our name
I'm still going to love you the same
Don't forget about me

I know the thrill of love is waning
You can't see the pictures I'm painting
Of me and you together
From life to death to heaven

Don't forget about me
When you're holding someone else's hand
Remember we had dreams and plans
Don't forget about me

Well, I ain't baptized, I ain't got no church
No friend in Jesus and what makes matters worse
I've lost myself into the dark
Scared and alone with no love in my heart

Each day of sorrow brings me closer to goodbye
If I weren't so afraid I'd lay down and die

I've gotten so close with what I feel in my soul
When I received love I just let it go
And I called out for help, found myself alone
Did I believe anything?, well, I don't know

Each day of sorrow brings me closer to goodbye
If I weren't so afraid I'd lay down and die

So all of you angels who don't wish their words
Dark on my soul, I ain't no good
It's like a posture, a failure like me
If I had something to give you, I'd give it to you for free

Each day of sorrow brings me closer to goodbye
If I weren't so afraid I'd lay down and die

Well, I ain't baptized, I ain't got no church

Well me and my son of only fourteen*
A finer young gentleman you've never seen
We went out walking on Easter Eve
Just to pass some time together

Well he asked me some questions of things that I'd done
But I kept it good natured, we were just having fun
And we talked about everything under the sun
And the Easter bells were chiming

So we walked for a while into a cafe we went
For we were hungry from the time we'd spent
We carried no malice or any contempt
And both our hearts were shining

Well we weren't there long before my kid said hey
There's a man over there and he's looking our way
Pay no attention I said to the lad
Let's just mind our own business this evening

Well the man approached said what are you staring at
And that if we didn't stop gawking he'd take us out back
And teach us some manners, it was simple as that
Keep your eyes to yourselves, you bastards

So I looked up and said why don't you just sit down
You're walking here, sir, on very thin ground
There's nobody gawking or looking around
And you're alarming all of the patrons

Well I guess that I shouldn't have said that
'Cause he raised his voice said get ready to scrap
And with that he gave my kid's head a snap
And said come and get what you've got coming

Well my son stood up and hit him a lick
And I tried to stop him but it happened so quick
Then he smashed the man's head down in the deck
He was giving that fella a beating

But the man reached down pulled out a small gun
And he pointed it straight at the head of my son
But with a longneck bottle the kid slashed at his jaw
And the pistol fell down on the table

Well thank God the cops came and broke up the brawl
There was blood on the ceiling and blood on the wall
I said to my son you know you don't win 'em all
This has sure been one hell of an evening

He said you know Dad I never even saw that gal
But I wasn't going to stand for him threatening us now
And I hope you forgive me for being so wild
Here on Easter Evening

Well they arrested us all and took us to jail
But ten minutes later we were all out on bail
And the wife of the man came up to my son
And said thank you young man for what you have done

You know my husband is jealous and very cruel
And whenever we're out he always acts like a fool
And I'm gonna quit him now that they got him locked up
And I hope to hell that he will rot

Well me and my son of only fourteen
A finer young gentleman you've never seen
We went out walking one Easter Eve
And left with that man's wife that evening

She spends all our money then she tells me I'm too tight
She calls me sunny 'cause she thinks that I'm so bright
She likes lovin' in the morning, I like it late at night
Gee, it's a clumsy ol' world, gee, it's a clumsy ol' world

She don't eat meat but she smokes cigarettes
She remembers things that I'm trying to forget
We both can hold a grudge but she always forgives
Gee, it's a clumsy ol' world, gee, it's a clumsy ol' world

At times she leaves me half way
But then she'll steal my head
We are always in each other's wings
And that just makes us right

She said she can't quit me but she didn't know why
She gets mean and hates but she's the apple of my eye
We parted from each other with a love that'll never die
Gee, it's a clumsy ol' world, gee, it's a clumsy ol' world